Dark Night
by Rosedream
Summary: She pulled back and laughed at me. “If you stopped protecting him, then you wouldn’t get hurt.” - Completed story #3
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: I am still working on my other story Dead Silent. But this was a plot bunny that could not be ignored.

A Dark Night

It was a dark and stormy night. The evening had been heavy with the scent of rain and the sound of distant thunder. We of course were working in a haunted house when the thunder storm hit. What is strange in the light of day; becomes down right creepy when the dark falls from the sky, and the storm slaps the house upside the head with rumbled discontent.

Naru and I had gone to the farthest corner of the house to fix a camera I had set up. For some reason it wasn't working right and he wanted to get it back up and running. The problem was that there was no sound running, just video feed. I had to listen to Naru make sarcastic remarks the entire time we walked over there. All I could say was that I was sure I had the sound running when I left the room earlier in the day. In fact I know I did because I confirmed with Lin before leaving the room so there!

When we arrived in the master bedroom the storm was going full blast. The rain thrummed on the windows, louder was the sound of rain beating down on the roof. Everything looked normal. We had asked the people who lived here to take a few days and stay at the local inn. Therefore the room was empty, the bed made neatly and the still hanging open closet door showed empty hangers. It still smelled faintly of sweet women's perfume. The lady of the house had good taste, the smell lingering pleasantly without overpowering the nose and making your eyes water.

Naru tinkered with the video camera while I looked around the room. I had come in earlier in a hurry to get things in place before dinner. Not taking time really to do more than set up and ascertain that I had captured as much of the room as possible. It was nice. When I have more money I would love a home like this, elegant and comfortable.

I unashamedly played in the mirror, fluffing my hair and cooing at the expensive necklaces that were draped on hooks on the jewelry stand. While I played Naru made sarcastic remarks about employees who weren't paid to play while the boss worked. I ignored him.

From the corner of my eye as I draped a necklace in front of me I saw movement in the still open closet. I paused, Naru still mumbling as a figure appeared in the closet. When I had been a kid, I refused to have my closet door open at night. Not because I believed that there were monsters but because in the dark; when shadows deepened, my clothes took on the shape of a person standing there. One night, as a young child, I had lain in bed staring at a pair of hanging clothes all night sure that it was some one standing in the closet waiting for me to sleep. Waiting to come out.

But now I saw a figure in the softly lit room. The figure became shaper until I could see detail. Her body was hunched, she was dressed in torn bloody pajamas and her face, oh god her face! Her eyes burned with rage, cuts oozed across her cheeks and forehead, her skin looked hard and dead. A smile was fixed, demonic, cruel…

"Na… Na... NARU!!!"

She rushed out of the closet at Naru as he looked up at my scream. Her arm reached out and threw him across the room to me. He hit the dresser with a thud and then slumped, head lolling, blood spilling from his head.

She stalked towards me, smiling. "Did I hurt your precious man?" She laughed, throaty and deep.

"Stay away from him!" I yelled defiantly, moving to stand over his body, protectively crouched.

She laughed throwing her head back, tossing her dirty unkempt hair, and then grinned at me, a twinkle appearing in her evil eyes. "How are you going to stop me?"

"Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen"

She reared back; three more cuts appeared on her face. Dear god! She is strong I think all I did was piss her off some more!

She snarled at me, crouching down, blood dripping off of her chin. Her eyes dipped down to Naru and without thinking I threw my self to my knees in front of him, arms crossed to cover my face. Her clawed hands tore through the soft flesh of my under arms.

She pulled back and laughed at me. "If you stopped protecting him, then you wouldn't get hurt."

I lowered my bleeding arms, tears pouring down my face. "No."

Delighted she swung at us again, I turned my shoulder to her protecting my arms and Naru. Pain cut through me and my shirt started to absorb blood from the deep gashes she had inflicted. I glared at her. She smiled at me.

Determined I stood up to face her again. Again I chanted, stronger firmer, I would not let her hurt Naru! "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen"

She snarled some more as deeper gashes hit her arms and face. Lightening quick she smacked me in the face. My head whipped with the force of the blow and I turned my body again to cover Naru. She clawed my other shoulder. Bleeding from gashes on my own face now, I stood up from my protective crouch and gave her a bloody smile. "Bitch I am not going to let you hurt him."

"Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen" I shouted, blood spitting from my mouth. This time it seemed to actually hurt her. She pulled back deep cuts in her belly and chest. I stood there. Defiant and enraged that she would attack me and Naru. The pain was forgotten. I shouted again. "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen"

She pulled back more, almost whimpering. Now her dreadful body sported numerous gashes and wounds. Only they didn't slow her down as much as me. She was already dead.

Suddenly she straightened and looked up; she brought her face down to stare in my eyes. Smiled. "My turn!"

A bright flash of light, followed by a subsonic BOOM! My eyes went large as she smiled at me, blood dripping from her rotten teeth. The lights went out.

I dropped over Naru's body covering as much as possible. Insane laughter filled the room as the ghost started clawing at my back with rage filled strength. Blood dripped from my body; I felt my vision going black as pain swamped me.

"Naru" I whispered it, willing him to wake up. A deep dark shadow filled my vision and I was sucked down into oblivion.

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I was drifting on a cloud. Wind ruffled my hair and caressed my face. It was a smooth flight, deliberate and comfortable. Distantly I could hear soft thumps. I opened my eyes and above me was the stoic face of Naru. He was looking straight ahead and he eyes blazed azure. I was in his arms, held against his chest. Safe, I sighed and drifted back into my dreams.

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Beep…Beep…Beep

I came to lying on my stomach. My face was flat on the bed, no pillow, arms placed by my sides' palms up. The sheets were white and scratchy. I lay there, dreamy. Pain was a distant friend, held back by some drug dripping into my arm.

"Naru" I whispered.

The sound of a body leaving a chair rustled through the room. The scent of tea and cologne wrapped about me and I blearily saw a black shirt. It shifted down and Naru's face came into eye level.

"Mai."

"Are you ok?" I whispered.

His blue eyes darkened. "Yes."

Hearing an affirmative I surrendered back to my dreams, a slight smile on my lips.

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The next time I woke up, I could feel someone taking the bandages off of the wounds on my back. The pull of the gaze and tape had me crying out in pain. "Naru!!" His face came to eyelevel again. Eyes almost black, he reached out and held my hand. "They are changing the wounds." I whimpered my way through, and when they were finally done I sighed in relief, tears had soaked the sheets by my face. I passed out again.

Gradually, I got better. Stayed awake longer and the doctors began weaning me away from the heavy painkillers. I learned that when I had been rushed in I had been in a coma like state. I had needed two blood transfusions and my back had been ripped to shreds. It had taken hours of surgery and hundreds of stitches to sew up all of the deep cuts, inside and outside. In many places the bones of my rib cage actually showed through. Thank-fully no organs were hurt, it was muscle and blood. I would be scarred for life.

Later, when I was sitting with Lin in a quiet hospital room, I asked what had happened. "Do you really want to know?" Asked Naru from the doorway. I nodded. I had thought I was going to die, and I needed to know why I was still alive.

Naru asked a nurse for a DVD player, when it was received he pulled out a DVD from the stack of paperwork he put it in and pressed play.


	2. Chapter 2

I am exploring an idea; let me know if it is a pass or fail!  Also this is a two shot only.

Part Two of a Dark Night:

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As Mai lay propped up in the hospital bed avidly watching the DVD detailing that night, I pondered the events of that night.

It began with frustration. As I reviewed the footage from the camera after dinner I quickly noticed that the video Mai had set up in the Master Bedroom wasn't working right. I could see but not hear.

"Mai!" I growled frustrated.

"Ha..hai!" She looked up from where she had been playing paper, rock and scissors with Bou-san.

"That camera you set up in the Bedroom isn't working. Come with me we are going to fix your mistake."

As we walked to the room I could hear the storm gearing up to pound on the house. When we got to the bedroom Mai typically started to play around, leaving me to fix it. Not that I really minded because if I left it to her again it would probably stay messed up. Muttering to myself about how frustrating she was, I twisted the volume and adjusted the microphone.

It was her scared voice that made me glance up, cursing my inattention to my surroundings. I glimpsed a ghoulish body, demonic grin. She smacked me upside the head and right into the dresser. I knew nothing at that point.

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In the dark of my mind, I heard a soft whisper. "Naru."

Mai, I thought, she is calling me. I could hear soft grunts of pain, and something thick dripped on my face. The smell of blood smothered me. I woke to the realization that there was body on me, jerking in time to those grunts. What???

Mai! Demonic laughter filled the dark room. Instant Rage consumed me. She was hurting Mai.

My power, ever present and impatient, welled up from my soul. I stood up, carefully staring in the face of that ghost who had become a ghoul. She had stepped back stopping her attack at my movement. Her eyes were wary, darting around taking in the situation. Her own body was wracked with dripping cuts. Mai must have given her some of her own brand of pain. I would finish it.

My power floated around me building. I looked at the ghoul and smirked. "My turn."

CRACK! The furniture in the room broke apart, jagged wood swirled threatingly around the room. Whirling around us. The ghoul whimpered softly crouching at the display of power. There was no mercy. The wood was driven into the ghoul so much that she was torn apart, body parts being thrown in chunks. She would no longer walk the earth again.

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When it was done I looked down at Mai, her face was pale, and blood flowed sluggishly from her body. I noted that some of the worst wounds had closed up some… strange. The blood flow was no longer fatal as long as she got attention soon.

I crouched and shifted her body. Picking her up I left the room. What had been nice and neat was now in shambles. Broken furniture everywhere. Not to mention the blood and flesh.

Lin and Bou-san met me half way. As soon as they saw our blood covered bodies they gasped. When Bou-san tried to take Mai from me, I found myself unable to let go. I ignored him and kept walking through the house to the van.

Lin at least understood and had already reached the van, turning it on. We pealed out of the driveway.

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When we reached the hospital the doctors took one look at us and jumped to action. When they took Mai from me, we both collapsed. Mai's wounds immediately started bleeding, and my head pounded so hard that I saw spots and then nothing.

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I came to in a hospital bed. Lin informed me that Mai was still in surgery it seems that her blood loss and injuries were much more significant that what I had thought. Lin asked me if I wanted to review the footage from that night. It seems as though the camera had been placed just right; it had caught the entire incident, including sound.

I was astonished to see just how protective Mai was of me. A little uncomfortable as well. But I was most interested in how I had not been affected by my use of power. "Lin" I asked.

He nodded. "It would seem that in the absence of Gene, Mai is a medium strong enough to channel your power so that it doesn't overwhelm you. I assume that the blood that was shared between you from the wounds opened up the possibility at that time. It would be of interest to test this theory out further. If you can continue to do so without sharing blood it would be best."

"Yes, we will test it out. Physical contact, if need be… we will see."

He looked at me, considering.

"You should be there when Mai wakes."

I looked at him from the corner of my eye. No answer was really needed.

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When Mai woke up the first time she looked at me and smiled. She talked of strange things. I think the medicine made her loopy. She even looked at Lin and chattered about the tea she was going to make for me. Mid sentence she stopped talking and then was back out asleep. I looked at Lin who was in the chair across the room. We both shook our heads; a smile flirted with my lips, only Mai.

The next time she woke up I knew she was actually awake. She asked me how I was… sigh, Mai sometimes you care too much. I don't know what to do with you.

When the nurse came in to change her bandages, it was all I could do to not attack her as well, Mai shivered and wept through the whole thing. I wish I had killed that ghoul in a slower fashion. Maybe ripping her apart slower.

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As Mai got better, the pressure on my chest grew lighter. She was fine. I won't let her get hurt again.

The people of the house were grateful that the monster that had been plaguing them was gone. They had been confused though as to why their bedroom was devoid of furniture and carpet. I just said that it was an unfortunate consequence of the hunt.

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I contemplated Mai as she watched to footage. Her face was a study of interest, shock and horror. Then she blushed when she saw me pick her up. Maybe working on controlling my powers will be more interesting than I thought. I smiled at her. She froze, eyes wide, I left the room.

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Author note: Man writing Naru point of view is difficult. Because in the show he is … well Naru, but writing from his point of view he has to have to have more human emotions…

Ok so the idea is that blood is the primitive and most basic ingredient to "spells". I am working from the assumption that if this is so; then if Mai and Naru mingled their blood then the medium powers she possesses (not to mention the residue of Gene's soul) would "activate" when mingled with Naru's. Creating a bridge that would take the excess and overwhelming part of Naru's power. Which would enable him to use his power without the awful consequences. Good, yes??


End file.
